Table of Contents

Preface
1. What Needs to be Explained and How Should We Explain It?
Introduction
Levels of Analysis & the Multidisciplinary Nature of Psychoactive Drug Studies
Towards an Integrated Model of Substance Use & Abuse
Overview
Endnotes
2. The Nature & Scope of Substance Use & Abuse
Introduction
What Is a Drug?
Who Uses Drugs?
Taxonomy of Drug Use Contexts
The Harms & Benefits of Drugs
From Use to Abuse
Summary
Endnotes
3. An Evolutionary Perspective
Introduction
The Nature and Role of Evolutionary Explanations
Has Drug Use Been Selected For?
Drugs & the Brain
Drug Use, Sexual Selection, and Life History Theory
From Use to Abuse
An Integrated Evolutionary Model of Substance Use
Summary
Endnotes
4. Drugs in History
Introduction
What Can History Tell Us about Substance Use and Abuse?
A Brief History of Drugs
Summary
Endnotes
5. The Forces of History: Explaining Patterns of Use and Abuse
Introduction
The Functions of Drugs in Historical Perspective
Pharmacology
New Forms, New Modes, New Substances: The Impact of Technological Change on
Drug Use
New Forms, New Modes, new Substances: The Impact of Technological Change on Drug Use
Availability
Economic and Political Factors
Legislation and Public Policy
Social Factors
A Complex Web: Multiple Influences on Patterns of Drug Use
Summary
Endnotes
6. Drugs and Culture
Introduction
Conceptual & Methodological Issues
Indigenous Patterns of Drug Use
Drugs & Multiculturalism
Summary
Endnotes
7. The Role of Culture: Explaining Patterns of Use
Introduction
Drugs and Culture
Culture and Drugs
Social Structural Factors
Integrating Cultural Explanations
Explanations
Summary
Endnotes
8. Conceptualizing & Treating Substance Use Problems: A Cultural-Historical Perspective
Introduction
The Pre and Early History of Addiction
Treatment for Alcohol & Drug Problems in the Nineteenth Century
The Changing Face of Drug Addiction: 1914-1960
The Alcoholism Movement
Contemporary Developments
Culture & Classification
Implications
Endnotes
9. Prevention, Treatment & Public Policy
Introduction
Prevention
Assessment
Treatment
Legal Sanctions, Regulations, & Restrictions
Harm Reduction
Conclusion
Endnotes
References
Author Index
Subject Index

About the Author

Russil Durrant received his Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury, where he also ompleted a Post Doctoral Fellowship. He then worked at the Centre for Behavioral Research in Cancer at the Cancer Control Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. His research involves the design and evaluation of mass media tobacco prevention programs, and his other research interests include evolutionary psychology, cultural psychology, and the social history of drug use.  He currently teaches at Griffith University - Gold Coast Campus in Queensland, Australia.

Jo Thakker is a lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury and has worked as a clinical psychologist in a variety of therapeutic contexts. Along with work in the substance abuse area, her research interests include cultural psychology and mental health issues in relation to migrants and refugees.

Reviews

This book takes an integrative approach to the understanding of drug use and its relationship to social-cultural factors. It is lucidly and powerfully argued and constitutes a significant achievement. The authors sensibly argue that in order to fully understand and explain drug use and abuse it is necessary to take into account different levels of analysis, reflecting distinct domains of human functioning; the biological, psychosocial, and cultural-historical….Overall, this book represents an exceptional achievement and should be of interest to drug clinicians and researcher as well as social scientists and students.
*Professor Tony Ward*

"In Substance Use and Abuse, Durrant and Thakker present a detailed history of drug use over time to support the need for developing a broader understand of substance use that takes into account cultural and historical perspective. This book is a thought-provoking and much needed addition to the vast literature on drugs, drug use, and drug policy. The information in this book contributes to what is known by examining substance use through historical and cultural perspectives, providing readers with a detailed ride through the history of drug use over time throughout various societies and cultures. By documenting how specific forms of substance use emerged and re-emerged, how public perceptions and policy responses change over time, and how social attitudes about drugs are subject to public interpretation and influenced by a number of diverse cultural, political, and historical factors, a strong case for examining and understanding drug use through both historical and cultural perspectives is made."
*Rashi K. Shukla*